Posted on: 19th November 2024

If you’re like me, you’ve probably started your Christmas preparations this month – between my kids and wider family, there are a lot of people to think of! I love this time of year but I am very aware of the pressures it brings – increased pressure and temptation to spend money; requests for donations from very worthy charities; invitations to parties and gatherings; pleas for time spent volunteering. How do you deal with the overwhelm? Do you set boundaries, or is this something you struggle with?

Christmas presents a fantastic opportunity for those of us in the church to celebrate and share our faith, but I wonder if sometimes, by the time people hear from us, their heads are already full – not just with checklists and diaries, but also emotions such as overwhelm, anxiety, loneliness and grief. As Christians, our focus on Jesus at this time may anchor us as we deal with these emotions, but what is your anchor if you don’t know Jesus?

I realise this is a bit of a Catch-22 situation – for people to come to know Jesus, we must share our faith, but I would like to offer the reflection that if we are to do that in a meaningful way at Christmas, our means must be intentional and, perhaps, gentle.

At Leeds Sanctuary this year, we are hosting a “Blue Christmas” service, which will be an opportunity for people to sit with their complicated emotions around the Christmas season. This service first and foremost will be an opportunity to “hush the noise”, and learn of a God who “is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). As we encounter new people who are crushed in spirit in our churches and communities this Christmas, how can we be caring for them in this season, and in 2025, in ways that meet them through the overwhelm and show the love of God in deed?

If you’d like to learn more about our Blue Christmas service, visit www.leedssanctuary.org.uk/events – we’d love to welcome you.